Dancing in the Sun
by Komina12345
Summary: The story of a dancer and a tactican. The war with Plegia has ended, leaving two years of peace for these two to find their way in life.


**Author's Foreword: **

**I know some of you are wondering why this story appeared all of a sudden while ****_Of Wyverns and Men_**** was put on hold. I'll get back to that in a second.**

**First off, I just want to express how overwhelmed I am by all the support I've been receiving regarding my mother's fight against cancer. The surgery went perfectly, and my aunt and cousins came to help take care of her while I'm gone to college. It was always nice to hear you guys reach out to offer words of support. For that, I am extremely grateful. It's no secret that you guys are one of the main motivating factors as to why I write. With a little time to let off some steam as well as taking care of my mother, I think I am in a bit better shape to start writing again. **

**As for the matter of my other story, I can honestly say I can't immediately go back to it for a variety of reasons. First off, I've been away from the story long enough to have lost my sense of rhythm and flow. I feel disconnected from the plot that I was writing, and I don't really remember what direction I was pointing the story at. I guess you could call it a severe writer's block induced by stress and prolonged periods of inactivity. Secondly, I feel that a story with so much effort put into it as I did with ****_Of Wyverns and Men_**** deserves me at my best in order to push the story forward. In the end, I'm not going to abandon the story, but I will need some time to get back into the loop. Therefore, this new story is an attempt to get myself back into writing again. I don't know how long it will be, but I'm using it as a test to see how well I can write. **

**Also, I really liked Olivia's character and felt that I could relate to her in many aspects. I've been playing the violin for longer than I can remember, and many of the things she mentions about dancing can easily be put into my experiences with performing in front of large audiences with the violin. In any case, I'm really sorry that my other story is being put on hold for a bit. I just wanted to get out a bit more, and I kind of lost my way in the process. **

**One particular thing that always annoyed me about Olivia's dialogue in FE:A was how she was almost always portrayed as your typical shy girl, yet she seemed to be incredibly ditzy to the point where it was merely a joke. I felt that there was a deeper side to Olivia that could have been delved into, as I did with when I saw Cherche. While I do understand that FE:A does not have the capability to focus so deeply on every character, I had hoped that some of my other favorite characters like Cherche, Olivia, or Tiki had gotten the same amount of depth that Lucina got. However, Lucina's role as arguably the main heroine negates any other girl from getting as much attention. At best, the female Robin gets as much attention from the plot as a female character. With that said, these stories were a reactionary response as to what if these characters were actually fleshed out and thought out? My ultimate goal is to make you guys feel as if the person can be as beloved, if not more, than how Lucina was received.**

** On a final note, I'm probably going to use a new Robin different from the one I used before. Aside from the black hair and name, this Robin has no relation to the other one. Also, I am a stanch believer that dialogue straight from the game isn't really writing as much as it is copying and pasting. I was guilty of it for the first few chapters of my last story, but you guys will find that my dialogue tends to be altered if not completely different. Regardless, I still keep the main plot points, only told from a different point of view. I don't think this will be too much of a problem, as the story will probably detail the two years after Chrom becomes the Exalt. There is a bit more leeway for creative stories not focusing around war given that you actually meet Olivia before the two year time skip.**

**As always, I rate all of my stories T, as I don't write homemade fanfiction porn, but I still will incorporate some battle scenes given the nature of ****_Fire Emblem_****.**

**Without further ado, here is the teaser for the new story that I hope you guys will enjoy!**

* * *

**Dancing in the Sun**

**Prologue: First Steps**

_Tap, tap, tap_

The punctuated clicks and clacks against the wooden floor creaked in a groaning manner. The creaks echoed through the empty wooden stage room, bouncing off of the walls and resonating with each noise silently rolling across the walls. The auditorium, though old, still possessed many of the older designs that were once used in days long past to allow for noise to pass throughout the room. Across the smooth, golden balconies and into every crevice and crack in each seat, the noise of the taps waltzed through the room. The nature of such noise was undeniable, acting as according to its own discretion, free from the restrictions of physicality. The room was dimly lit all across save for the stage itself. Bonfires flickered and hissed as the wood slowly burned to charred logs. The flames danced, reaching their hands towards the ceiling, plumes of smoke spiraling from the tips of their fiery, slender fingers.

A solitary girl stood in the middle of the stage, alone yet consumed by her work. Every noise, smell, and sight was rushing through her mind. Her nimble feet slid across the floor, dragging against the every increasing pace of the non-existent music. White silk flew through the air, twirling in an everlasting whirlwind. The jingle of golden bells crashed against the silence of the auditorium. Yet, the girl gave no heed to these small noises any longer. All she could feel was her body, moving of its own accord as she merely watched it twirl to its own pace. Her breathing grew heavier with each flow of air from her nostrils growing more punctuated and labored. At last, she could feel the pain in her legs beginning that dreadful process of creeping up through her body. She could see nothing as her eyes were closed, yet every part of this stage was so familiar to her. It was as if she were in her own natural habitat, free from the restraints of being human. At any given moment, she could become a bird to fly free or the fearsome snarl of a wolf. The language that her body gave forth suggested as much.

With each twist and turn, the pain began to spread father up her body. Movement for a dance as complicated as the one she was performing required every bit of focus and dedication. One wrong thought sailing from her head would spell the abrupt end of her dance. Sliding her feet and gliding across the floor, the girl could at last feel the pain for the first time. To her dismay, she knew her legs were failing her, yet her mind did not wish to stop. Yet her legs did not obey her wishes as she could feel the ground beneath her crumbling while her knees hit the ground with a loud thud. Her legs were numb, allowing her to ignore the tingling sensation resonating from her knees. With a sigh, she brought her legs up to her view, looking at the two of them with a degree of disdain and disappointment. As if to scold her own legs for following their immediate instinct to crumble, the girl's thoughts echoed in the auditorium in her head.

_"You're doing it wrong….again."_

She brought her hand to her head, wiping the beads of sweat that were slowly flowing from her forehead to the ground. She had lost track of the amount of time she has spent in her trance-like state. The girl looked to the window, noting the absence of the sun replaced by the azure tint of the moon. She let out a huff of air, slowly crawling towards her robes. The Feroxi winters were not anything to be reckoned with, especially during the dead night in a blizzard. She had taken shelter in the auditorium and saw no other option but to dance to her heart's content, free from the lingering eyes of other undesirable spectators.

The issue of her shyness was a constant thorn in her otherwise sweet personality. It often hindered her from ever seeming anything else other than a shy introvert. Unfortunately for her, this tended to manifest itself in the form of her rather severe case of stage fright. The girl sat on the wooden floor, sighing as she did so. Lying against the cold touch of the ground, she could see the darkened skies and the floating twinkles of snow gliding across the windows. She envied the snow for its ability to go as it pleased, all the while mesmerizing those who it passed by. Yet despite what others considered an almost prodigy-like talent in dancing, the girl could not move more than five inches without some sort of calming focus before her performances.

Yet despite all of her shortcomings, she knew that it was in Regna Ferox that she found her home. Her initial perceptions had shown her a culture of warriors who only valued strength and might above all. It only took a closer look to realize that it was not strength that was valued but rather the passion to embrace what one enjoyed. As such, the girl found her dancing more than welcomed with open arms. Despite her difficulty in overcoming the sight of crowds all watching her, she was able to perform to the delight of the crowds since she had arrived. However, admiration of a crowd was a different story from actually seeking any form of companionship. Her attitude and mannerisms stuck out like a pin in the atmosphere of the warrior culture of Ferox. While Khan Basilio had saved her in the past, he could do nothing for her unwillingness to interact with others, save for the occasional songbird that flew into her room. It pained her more than any leg cramp or sore muscles to know that others saw her as an object of sympathy and meekness. She wished to prove her worth to the others, show them that she did not need to be watched like a young doe. The cruel irony existed in that every sympathetic look towards the solitary dancer had the exact opposite effect on her.

"_Will people think of me as a helpless girl for the rest of my days?"_

This question rang through her head. Even now, she could see that she was one of the few left behind in midst of the raging war between Ylisse, Ferox, and Plegia. To be deemed too fragile to even be taken along shook her to her core. Time and time again, she gradually grew more tired of being treated as nothing more than a fragile doll. She knew how to handle a sword to some degree, and her dancing was said to lift the spirits of soldiers to fight beyond their own limits. Yet for all her worth, she did not understand why she was left behind in an empty auditorium in the dead of a raging blizzard.

Within moments, the girl's floating mind had returned to her body. Her eyes darted open as she snapped from her trance. Her rose-hued hair lay across her face, shielding her eyes from the piercing glare of the bonfires. Blowing the strands of her hair off her face, she looked up to a figure approaching her. Though slightly startled, she kept her composure and began to brush off the dust from her silk clothes. She looked to her unexpected visitor, noting the robes and armor being that of a soldier of Basilio's rival, Flavia. Bowing slightly, the soldier looked up to the dancer with expectant eyes.

"My lady, Khan Flavia has sent a message requesting your immediate attention."

She looked at the scroll in the outreached hand of the messenger. Slowly reaching out her hand and mumbling a quiet thank you, she took the parchment from his hand. Slowly unfurling the message, she noticed the ever-recognizable seal of the Eastern Khanate. She looked to the top of the message, slowly tracing her eyes down the letter, taking in each word.

_Olivia,_

_I have no time for fancy messages or any long introductions so I'll be quick with this message. The war with Plegia hasn't gone exactly as we had expected it to go. Our forces have taken a heavy beating, and Ylisse's ruler was taken hostage by that bastard of a king. It's no secret that we will soon be routed and sent running with our tail between our legs if we don't act any sooner. As it stands, we are stranded in the canyons of the Plegian lands. While we have gotten farther ahead and out of immediate reach of the Plegians, we cannot hold this position forever. I recall you were a damned good dancer, and I know that your skills tend to go under the noses of most people you know. That idiot Basilio is too much of an oaf to realize the potential you have to get us out of this pickle. _

_This is where you come in. The ruler of Ylisse and his little posse of men need to be taken out of Plegia. As I write this letter, they are marching towards the capital in hopes of saving their ruler. While I can say a thousand things as to how this could go wrong, I have no say in what the young prince does. What I do need is an escape route for the Ylisseans regardless of whether or not they succeed in their mission. I can manage with Basilio to slowly withdraw as we have enough men to handle ourselves. We are going to need you to pose as a traveling caravan with a few others to even think about getting this plan off the ground. Given your knowledge of the Plegian terrain and your experience in traveling like this, I feel safer with you at the lead. Your job is of the utmost importance, and failure can spell doom for most of us. Show us what you can do. _

_Khan Flavia_

The girl named Olivia looked at the parchment with an almost blank expression. Part of her mind could barely comprehend what she had just read. Moments ago, she had been merely sitting on the floor, pondering her own existence. Yet at the moment in her hands was an order entrusting her with the lives of others. She felt the slightest tinge of regret at requesting for others to rely on her, as she had thought this process would have involved talking and gaining self-confidence through friendship rather than saving others from a battlefield. Part of her felt fright that bore no resemblance to that which she felt on the stage. Dances could be rehearsed and done over if the dancer stumbled or missed a queue. This task had no such leeway, and failure would result not only in the deaths of those she was to save but also of herself. Yet for all her hesitance over this sudden task, Olivia could not help but feel the faintest feeling of excitement at the idea of proving herself. At the very least, she did not expect to fight at all.

Folding the parchment into a small square, she looked to the messenger. With a timid voice that belied the fear and excitement she felt, Olivia spoke out to the soldier.

"So…when do we leave?"


End file.
